Parents stream by school voucher display at Oakwood mall

Parents stopped one-by-one at a group of tables in the middle of Oakwood Center shopping mall in Terrytown Thursday, approaching Louisiana education officials about a newly available option, vouchers that let them move their children to different schools. The program has critics, but the visitors at Thursday's installment of an informational tour focused on using it to find new...

Parents stopped one-by-one at a group of tables in the middle of Oakwood Center shopping mall in Terrytown Thursday, approaching Louisiana education officials about a newly available option, vouchers that let them move their children to different schools. The program has critics, but the visitors at Thursday's installment of an informational tour focused on using it to find new settings for their children.

Susan Poag/The Times-PicayuneJamie Foley of Metairie and her son Michael Williams, 5, check out the information during a community meeting by the Louisiana Department of Education on the new Louisiana Scholarship Program held Thursday at Oakwood Mall in Terrytown. In the background is Nicholas Bolt, deputy chief of staff at the Louisiana Department of Education. The meeting is one of a series being held throughout the state to inform the public on how students can opt to attend approved nonpublic schools or high-performing public schools.

Constance Barton's daughter attended Kate Middleton Elementary in Gretna for 2011-12, but the school closed in a wave of cuts and reorganization in May, leaving her searching for a new destination for her second grader. The Jefferson Parish school system will place her child at William Hart Elementary in Gretna, but Barton said she wants to shop around.

"I don't know where she might end up," Barton said. But she said, "I don't want somebody saying, 'She has to go here.'"

The program, part of Gov. Bobby Jindal's education reform plan recently passed in the Legislature, lets children whose family incomes fall below designated levels transfer out if their public schools have grades of C, D or F. Middleton's most recent letter grade was D-minus. William Hart had a D-plus.

Barton said she is interested in private schools. She said she was hurt by the loss of Middleton, which she described as a caring setting. "We have a lot of children in the neighborhood that need a loving environment like that," said Barton, who lives in Gretna.

Nick Bolt, deputy chief of staff for the Louisiana Department of Education, took parents' questions. The goal, he said, was to "get as much information out as possible to as many parents as possible."

"Parents are clamoring for more information," Bolt said.

The Oakwood event was the fifth such informational meeting. Three remain, including one at Riverlands Shopping Center in LaPlace on June 21 between 3 p.m. and 9 p.m. Bolt said attendance can range from a few parents to dozens.

He said education officials continue working to confirm the qualifications of participating schools, a rushed process this year because of the spring timing of the legislation that created the program. The process will unfold earlier in 2013, he said.

Susan Poag/The Times-PicayunePaul Christiansen of LeBlanc & Schuster public relations firm gets information for parent Constance Barton of Gretna during a community meeting by the Louisiana Department of Education on the new Louisiana Scholarship Program on Thursday at Oakwood mall in Terrytown.

Marilyn Banks went to Oakwood Thursday seeking ideas on where to send her daughter, a 14-year-old with Down syndrome scheduled to attend West Jefferson High in Harvey. She said she would prefer Helen Cox High in Harvey, but Jefferson officials won't allow the transfer. Cox is not on the voucher list, but Banks said she wanted to explore whether the voucher program can help.

"Right now I'm just out here looking," she said.

Danielle Weadd was another parent whose son entering fifth grade got caught in Jefferson Parish's reorganizing. He attended Estelle Elementary in Marrero but must transfer to Ellender Middle in Marrero because of a move to reduce crowding at Estelle and convert Ellender into a combined elementary and middle campus. Weadd said she's uneasy about her son studying on the same campus with older students.

"I just want to make sure he's in the right environment," Weadd said. She said she appreciates the additional choice offered by the voucher program and that it is a sign officials care about the needs of families. "If I am able to use the voucher, I am going to use it."